Review: Little Fires Everywhere

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book took me an incredibly long time to read. The problem for me is that it didn't really grab my attention. I would pick it up to read a chapter every once in a while, but there was just something missing. I think the writing is great. It is very compelling and flows rather nicely. This book focuses a lot on characters, which is something I tend to enjoy a lot. I decided that it lacked a clear plot until around a third of the way through the book. This might just be too long for some people. Admittedly, some events in my personal life prevented me from finishing this sooner, but that lack of focus caused me to tend to pick up other books first before returning to this one. Once I did, I devoured it.

Something that surprised me about this book is the focus on pregnancy and motherhood. There are a few different storylines and characters that have to face up to similar situations. Once these themes rose to the surface of the book, it really began to shine. Partly, this comes from the build up that occurs during the first hundred pages or so of the book. We get introduced to the Richardsons, the Wrights, and the town of Shaker Heights almost all at once. It takes some time to untangle them and see just how they influence each other and the importance of their relationships. Despite some false starts for me, the story came together wonderfully and was satisfying to the end.

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